Dream Quest
by marauders4u
Summary: Will, Lou Ellen and Cecil find themselves lost in a dream world. They push forward in finding a means to escape it and get back to reality.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So I was suddenly hit with the writing muse. I wasn't going to make a large story because I have committing problems. But suddenly =BAM. I had this sudden urge to write this story out and cannot seem to stop writing. I have so much done already but I'm only going to post part of it every day until there is no more to post! It may be the coffee to blame but I just cannot stop writing this story! I have a slight headache ...probably because I've been writing for four hours now. This is not edited work. Please no suggestions. I got a writing focus and do not want to be put off track. Yays and nays are fine comments by the way.

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><p>Cecil swiped at the thick fog that surrounded him but the thick hazy cloud just swirled around him like smoke, misting his skin and clothes. He stumbled forward, hands reaching out for anything that might be solid. The fog was pushing against him like a current in a river making walking difficult. He knew he was dreaming. He had remembered going to sleep in his camp bed and now he was in this strange land.<p>

"Hello," He called out into the darkness. His voice carried into the fog, surrounding him in an echo of his own voice. He continued to move forward, calling out and reaching into the darkness and hoping to find something in the void of blackness.

It wasn't long before the fog parted in front of Cecil showing a path of square, grey stepping stones. He glanced around him but the fog still blocked all view except the path before him. He placed his foot on the first garden stone and waited for something to happen.

Darkness stayed dark and the fog thickened behind him, pushing against him, urging him forward. He took another step and another satisfied that each step he took nothing was going to shoot from behind or in any other direction.

At the end, the path reached a small light post shining a beam in a halo around the fog causing it to swirl against the light like a non-existing glass screen. Cecil stopped before reaching the post, his head slightly titled as he took the sight before him.

Everything around him didn't add up. His location was odd as having no other objects that he could see, no noise sounding in the air, no smell or taste. Yet before him was a single post with light shining in the dark and a white and overly fluffy snow rabbit. It hopped once before twitching its' nose as its ears jolted forward.

"Hey there, little bunny." Cecil lowered himself to the ground, snapping its fingers at the rabbit. It twitched its nose again. "Whatcha doing in this um…strange place? Do you live here? You should think about moving. It's creepy and you'll get no bunny love here." As he spoke, he slowly moved forward, snapping his fingers at the rabbit.

When he was close enough to touch the bunny, Cecil reached out to towards the rabbit's soft fur but that was all it took before a poof and a swished sounded in the air and as magic, the rabbit turned from four legs fur ball to a two legged girl. Not just any female but Lou Ellen and her smirk of all knowing.

"Ellie?" Cecil scowled at her. "What are you doing here? Since when could you morph into a rabbit?"

"I'm not sure. Never till now and what are you doing here?" Lou Ellen jutted a hip out and placed a hand upon it while giving her friend a pointed look.

Cecil opened his mouth to retort an answer but he had nothing so he shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Just…you know, woke up here."

"Yeah," Lou Ellen glanced around, her painted eyes trying to focus on anything but the fog. "Me too. So where is here?"

"Don't really know," Cecil rubbed the back of his neck and scrunch up his face as if he ate a lemon. "Though if you were sleeping and I was sleeping then it must be a dream-ish place, right?"

"Right. Yeah." Lou Ellen nodded her head as confirming that logic made complete sense. "I suppose. But why are we in each other's dream?"

"We aren't. Not in each other's dream, I mean. It's obvious." Cecil gave her a slight glare. To him, Ellie was always full of surprises and why should it be different in this dream. "You are dream crashing my dream."

"Me?" Lou Ellen stuck her finger to her chest and lifted her chin slightly. "Well maybe you are dream crashing my dream! Ever thought of that?"

"No I hadn't and do you know why? Well don't think about it because I'm going to tell you though all you have to do is look around, Ellie?" Cecil reached a hand out in front of him and made small circling steps around him. "You being an Easter bunny and getting stuck in all this madness of mass fog and having no direction? That says me all over. You are the dream crasher!"

Lou Ellen narrowed her eyes and without moving her head, she casting her eyes left and then right. "I see your point."

They stared at each other for a moment, in the silent darkness. Neither of them sure of how to proceed from their situation and their unsureness etched in their faces and awkwardness in their stance but they continue to look at each other, hoping the other would have an answer.

"So….I'm not going to wake up." Cecil said after a moment. "You gotta wake up, and then run over to Hermes' cabin to wake me up."

"How am I to wake up?" Lou Ellen asked him as she walked around the light post, her hand reaching out to it, satisfied that it felt solid under her fingers.

Cecil only shrugged and watched as the fog swirled faster against the light. He moved closer to the light, a sudden fear creeping in his gut. "This is a bit spooky, you know."

"It's your dream," Lou Ellen whispered. She grabbed the light post with a tight hand as her eyes danced around the darkness trying to find the reason for the goose bumps kissing her flesh. She felt Cecil's hand brush against hers as he grasp the pole just above her own hand.

Cecil looked down her with a frown. He held up his arm under her nose and closed his eyes, "You know what you have to do?"

Lou Ellen eyes went cross as she looked down at the bare arm that was shoved under her nose. She lifted her eyes upward at Cecil's scrunched up face as he held his eyes tightly shut waiting. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Yeah." Cecil words were hurried as he nodded his head but kept his eyes tightly shut. "One of us needs to wake up so we can wake the other up. Just….do it quickly."

Lou Ellen looked back down at his arm. "If you are sure." She took a deep breath, opened her mouth wide and bit down into Cecil's flesh.

"OW! Ow! Ow!" Cecil screamed, his arm now held tight against his torso as he bounced in a circle. "And ow again! What in the gods names did you bite me for! That hurts!"

"To wake you up! Hello!" Lou Ellen stated astonished at the obvious that Cecil wasn't getting.

"I wanted you to pinch me not bite me!" Cecil stopped jumping around to examine his arm. Lou Ellen did a good job about it that was sure. She had left the indentation of her teeth on his flesh.

"Well you didn't exactly state that did you?" Lou Ellen told him. "You pretty much stuck your arm in my mouth!"

"Have you never heard of the saying 'Pinch me, I must be dreaming'?" Cecil asked rubbing at the red welts on his arms.

"Of course I have but this is your fault." Lou Ellen told him, crossing her arms in front of her in a sulk.

Cecil glared at her for a bit longer but it was getting them nowhere. He ran his fingers through his short auburn hair and looked around again. "I guess we are stuck here till someone wakes us up. It shouldn't be too long."

"Yeah. Your right." Lou Ellen agreed. She tossed her sulking expression away and took on a more hopeful one as they both stared into their gloomy isolation.

"Let's move forward though," Cecil started walking away from the post. "There is a reason why we are in this together and I get the feeling that we don't want to stay here too long."

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><p>Clovis woke up from his sleep by bolting straight up in a sitting position. It would have alarmed his brothers and sisters if they had been awake to witness his abrupt alertness. Clovis scrambled out of bed, tripping over the web of blankets and sprawling onto the floor. His eyes immediately felt heavy as sleep tried to claim him once more.<p>

"Must…stay…awake…" Clovis told himself as he clawed at the floor, pulling his body closer and closer towards the door. Finally, with the cabin door near reach and considering it wasn't all that far from his bed, Clovis pulled himself off the floor and flung open the door.

Sunshine hit him like a light to a candle, "Ugh!" Clovis whimpered, shielding his eyes from the morning rays of brightness with one hand while swatting at it with the other. He stumbled away from his cabin and crashed into Jason and Piper who were making their way to breakfast. "Sorry. Didn't see you. Sun was blinding me."

Jason, having the strength to support Clovis, made sure the sleepy boy was steady before giving him back his own personal space. "You okay? You're up early."

"I am. Yes." Clovis shoved his hands through his bed head, causing his blonde hair to stick up in a mass of static strains. "I was sleeping and I dreamed of Lou Ellen and Cecil. They were stuck in this dream world but it isn't a normal one because in a normal one, while in sleep mode I can stop in and say hello and that whole nine yards of talented stuff. But in this case they were in…like a snow globe. I could see them but I couldn't reach out to them."

"It's just a dream, right?" Jason smiled nervously, his instincts telling him differently.

"Uh-uh," Clovis shook his head slowly. "This dream is off. I should have been able to do something. Make a noise. Appear. Have something else appear but nothing would happen. I could only watch them."

Piper touched Jason's arm to get his attention. Her face showing concern, "I'm going to look on Lou Ellen."

"Good idea. I'll check on Cecil," Jason gave Clovis a quick slap on the back before heading off to the Hermes cabin.

Clovis sluggishly ran after Jason. Naturally, Jason made it to the Hermes cabin before Clovis but when he did get there he was greeted with dread. Jason had run straight inside the Hermes cabin with a lot of shots about knocking from the residents within.

"Where is Cecil?" Jason asked the first child of Hermes he ran into, his electric blue eyes dancing around the cots that still held sleeping bodies. It was a bit after eight and a good many campers enjoyed sleeping past that hour.

A young boy, Mike quickly pointed to the cot where Cecil slept. Jason ran over to the cot just as Clovis made it to the door.

"Are we having an open house here?" Conner yelled in witnessing to the trespassers entering his domain. "How about knocking? Or better, setting an appointment!"

"Cecil!" Jason reached the sleeping boy and started to shake him, trying to rouse him from sleep.

"Hey buddy?" Clovis pulled Cecil to a sitting position. "Wakey, wakey."

Conner and Travis exchanged glances, raised their brows up and gave each other a shrug and tried as well to coax their brother to waken up.

"Maybe if we just throw ice cold water on him? Maybe that would wake him up?" Travis suggested.

"Or we could just toss ice cubes at him?" Conner added.

Jason and Clovis glanced at the brothers and back at each other shaking their heads in union. "He is in some kind of sleep coma," Clovis commented. "I can't get through to him or Lou Ellen."

"Lou Ellen and Cecil are in a sleep coma? Like," Travis looked over at Conner, who wore the same mischievous grin. "Together?"

"Dude," Conner smile grew wider. "There might be a reason our little brother doesn't want to wake up and we, being the supportive older brothers that we are, respect that."

"We need to get him to the infirmary." Jason told them in a no-nonsense tone. "Now!"

"Some people have no sense of privacy of indecent dreams," Travis shook his head in disappointment but grabbed end of the sheet Cecil slept on while Conner took the opposite end to lift their brother up in a gurney like fashion.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: So a little chapter here. Sorry but this looked like the best spot to stop for a chapter.

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><p>They placed the sleeping Lou Ellen next to Cecil in the sick ward. Apollo's kids were swarming around trying to find a reason for their condition. Heart rate and temperatures were taken and repeated. Blood was examined and re-examined but the healers kept shaking their heads and murmuring to each other in bewilderment.<p>

Jason caught the sight of Nico against the doorway of a quarantine room with his arms wrapped around himself. Jason gave Cecil and Lou Ellen one last glance before walking over to his friend. "Hey."

"Grace," Nico acknowledge him with a nod.

"What are you doing here?" Jason put his back against the wall as he watched the Apollo kids try to find answers for the sleeping duo.

"Was going to catch breakfast with Will but he never showed up." Nico looked over his shoulder into the quarantine room. "So I went to his cabin to look for him. Apollo group, they are always the first to rise but…"

It was the soft spoken tune Nico was using that put red flags in Jason's head. He pulled himself away from the wall and looked in the quarantine room.

"No one could wake him up either." Nico walked into the room staring down at the sleeping form of Will Solace. "He…just won't wake up."

Jason walked over to stand next to Nico and picked up Solace limp wrist in his hand. The pulse was slow but strong.

Finally one of the healers, Sunday came forward, defeat clearly showing on her young face. "I think we need to bring Chiron into the picture." She looked down at the sleeping forms and back up at her fellow campers. "We tried everything but they aren't sick and they aren't injured. They are…sleeping."

"No." Piper's voice was a soft whisper. "They are trapped."

"And they don't even know it." Clovis added.

"Where is Will?" Travis stood quickly up from one of the cots he had been sitting on.

Conner, who had bandaged his own face up, except his nose, with an ace bandage also stood up but with less grace for not being able to see. "Yeah. Where is Solace?" Conner voice muffled through the bandage wrap.

The Apollo kids all looked at the quarantine room, their expression of distress matching each other. Conner pulled the bandages away from his eyes and followed his brother to the doorway of the room. They saw Jason and Nico standing at the side of the bed where Will Solace was prepped as a patient.

"Oh," Travis blinked a few times. "Oh wow. Either this is a very awkward dream…."

"Or a very lewd one," Conner finished for him.

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><p>The fog lifted abruptly to which Cecil and Lou Ellen found themselves at a cross road. In the middle of the cross road stood Will Solace peering down at a table.<p>

"Thank the gods!" Lou Ellen cried and ran to her friend.

"Will!" Cecil was quick to follow Lou Ellen, who had quickly wrapped her arms around Will's neck, pulling him down to her level in a tight hug.

"How'd you get here? Do you know a way out?" Cecil asked as he pried Lou Ellen off Will then he pulled the son of Apollo into his own bear hug.

"Enough," Will laughed as he untangling himself from his friends and pushing them slightly away so he had room. "I don't know how I got here and I though I'm sorry you guys are sharing my fate, I'm glad you are here. It feels like I have been wandering around in this darkness for hours. And…." Will voice lowered to a whisper as if he would be overheard, "This place is a bit creepy. Nothing here but darkness and fog."

"That's what I said!" Cecil turned to give Lou Ellen a pointed look.

"Hey, I didn't disagree with you." Lou Ellen smacked Cecil in the chest. "We think we are in Cecil's dream land. It's chaotic; it's the most likely of us."

"Oh." Will's dark blue eyes danced between his two friends with humour. "That has some logic, yeah."

"Total." Cecil agreed while his brown eyes scanned the table. "What's this stuff?"

The other two turned their eyes to the objects on the table. An orb, a feather and a compass was laid upon it with equal space between each other.

The compass looked like a silver pocket watch with N, S, E,W marked in bold letters and series of numbers in between. The orb was that of a glass ball with a small golden dot in the middle. The feather was large and in raven colour with a red tip. A sign on the table read 'Pick Only One. Use Only Once'.

"I'm not sure. I came across it only a moment ago. I thought that maybe one object would wake me up," Will told them. "And that I had only to choose the right one and if I picked the wrong one….maybe I didn't get to wake up. Like some kind of crossroad riddle, you know?"

"That would suck," Cecil confirmed.

"So since there are three of us," Will shrugged his shoulders, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips and quickly reached for the circular compass. "I call tabs on the compass!"

"I got the orb!" Lou Ellen quickly picked up the glass ball.

"Oh man!" Cecil held up the feather and frowned at it. "What am I to do with a feather? Tickle the dark smog away?"

"Look at it this way." Will held up the compass. "My dad, Apollo controls the sun which gives directions and…." He pointed to Lou Ellen's hand. "That's an orb. Maybe its magical glass ball or something that will tell us…something magical and…." Will frown at the feather Cecil still held in the air. "I got nothing for that."

Cecil dropped his hand and the feather to his side and gave Will a blank look. "You are a terrible Quest Leader."

"Quest Leader?" Will frowned at that. "Me? No. Uh-uh."

"This is a dream not a quest," Lou Ellen reminded Cecil.

"Yeah. That all three of us are sharing. Demigods don't do this stuff unless there is a quest." Cecil pointed out.

Lou Ellen pulled a confused face, "I didn't hear anything about a quest and I most certainly did not agree to one. There are protocols for quest. There are volunteers that raise their hand and be noble."

"Well then you be the quest leader." Will told Cecil, ignoring Lou Ellen. "It's your dream after all."

"Uh- no it isn't. I think this proves that it's something all three of us are involved with whether we like it or not." Cecil huffed while running his hands through his brown hair. "And you got the compass. That's like a guide thing, right?"

"So you got the feather!" Will pointed out. "That's like tribal for leader, right?"

"I don't do responsibility, that's you!" Cecil reminded the healer.

"Hey!" Lou Ellen got between the two bickering boys. "Let's do this fair. We will take turns being quest leaders. Okay?"

"Okay." Cecil agreed.

"If you be quest leader first," Will folded his arms in front of him and stared at Lou Ellen.

"Me?" Lou Ellen's eyebrows shot up.

"Girls first and all that, Ellie" Will looked over at Cecil. "We can vote on it."

"I'll back your vote," Cecil raised his hand and the feather in the air.

Lou Ellen looked between the two boys, both who were grinning. "I'm out numbered!"

"Lead on, Oh Mighty Quest Leader," Cecil laughed and the two boys stepped aside and swiped their arms in the air to allow her to go forward.

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><p>Next Chapter: Nico decides to go in after the group. The group encounters a bit of OZ and one is captured.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks to all those that reviewed, favoured, and followed. :)

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><p>Jason sat on a chair with his legs out stretched out in front of him while he tried to stay away from the healers as they hovered over the sleeping campers. His eyes weren't focused on the patients but on his friend who stood in the corner staring down at Will Solace. A mixture of fear, sadness and puzzlement sharing places on the young boy's face. It was too much for one person to handle alone.<p>

Nico stood in the corner of the sick ward watching as the Apollo and Athena's cabin put their heads together to figure out what was going on. Attempt to find a solution. They weren't getting anywhere but at least they were doing something and Nico felt that he should be doing something as well.

The Athena's cabin took in the assignment as if it was an enigma to be solved and a race to see who would solve it first and that seemed a little cold to Nico though he knew that their purpose would still have a welcoming outcome. The Apollo cabin was checking of a list of medical issues that was not giving them any answers. They had their charts and medical books in front of them but it seemed as no one had the answers.

What the staff did have was the trio hooked up to tubes that would give them nourishment in case the sleep coma lasted longer than their bodies could handle without eating or drinking. Their temperatures were constantly monitored as well as their heart rate. What the healers did notice is the heart rates on all three would increase at the same time. The Athena elaborated that they may be sharing the same experiences at the same time.

Nothing they did seem to be getting any answers and Nico couldn't stand it any longer. He hated waiting around for answers. It wasn't how he worked. It wasn't how he was programmed. He shoved off from the wall and headed for the open air. Jason was right on his heels.

"Where you going?" Jason called out to him as soon as they were outdoors.

"Not your concern," Nico never slowed his pace but Jason was older, taller and was able to catch up to him without it being a bother.

"If you don't want to tell me what is going inside that head of yours, fine. I'll just walk along with you then," Jason ignored the annoyed looked Nico gave him. "Figure it out myself."

"I'm going to see Clovis." Nico explained. "Maybe he can hook me up to that dream world or something."

"And then what? You might not be able to reach out to them. Clovis couldn't," Jason told him.

"I can't stand around and watch him just lay there!" Nico stopped walking and he spun around to face Jason. "They are saying it's a coma, Jason. They don't know what is causing it. They don't know when or if he will ever wake up again! They are sticking him with needles and have tubes coming out of his arms."

"Nico. It's three." Jason held up three fingers in the air while holding onto Nico's arm with the other hand. "Three of them are sharing the same thing and you know that the number three is sacred. You know what it may mean."

"I know what it means." Nico eyes darken. "But I never waited around for quest to find me. I make my own quest and I am going to find the means to bring him back! What else am I to do? Huh? What? What would you do if it was Piper? "

Jason opened his mouth but instead of words, he blew out a sigh. "I would do exactly what you are doing."

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><p>"We have been here forever," Cecil moaned. "I didn't think it was possible but a person can become very tired while sleeping. When are we going to get there…wherever we are going?"<p>

"Maybe now?" Lou Ellen stopped. Before them was day and behind them was night. It was as a line was marked in the sky to separate the two from each other. Behind them the moon was full and in front of them, the sun was shining.

"I believe we have just emerged from the dark side." Cecil gave Lou Ellen a wink. He walked past her a few steps, taking in the view before him. It was right out of picture book. Clear skies ahead of them. A light breeze. A line of trees and even a stream.

"This is great! You guys, look at it!" Will, who had quickened his steps towards the sun, smiled broadly. "There is an apple orchid with a stream. Food and water!"

"Why wouldn't we have dreamed of a land made out of marshmallow peeps swimming in chocolate?" Cecil asked Will.

"Boys," Lou Ellen called out to them. Both turned to look at her. "You two do realize that you are standing on a yellow path? A yellow path lay with bricks?"

Will and Cecil looked down at their feet, which indeed appeared to be on top of yellow stones. Slowly they raised their eyes to look at each other. A shining of horror mirroring in each other's eyes as they looked at each other in dawn of realization.

Cecil flapped his arms about similar to a chicken, from Lou Ellen's view point at least. And Will would shake his head, no doubt dismissing the charade. Cecil than made angry faces and raised his arms in the air like claws. Again, Will shook his head and pointed to the empty sky. Cecil pointed at the sun and the moon with both hands as they were out at the same time. Will frowned at his friend, his brows knitting together when he got all serious, Lou Ellen had often observed. Will then nodded at Cecil's absurd behaviour.

"What?" Lou Ellen asked suspiciously and confused. "You two care to share?"

"We need to get to the trees," Cecil told her, taking her arm and started to jog towards the trees, while looking in the sky.

"Why?" Lou Ellen asked but Will took her other hand and with Cecil having her arm, they hurried her towards the trees in a panic, clumsy run. It was a struggle not to trip over her feet. Cecil and Will were both taller than her and she was a bit taller than most girls her age.

"The monkeys. They always scared me," Cecil breathed out an answer. "And if this is a dream…anything can happen."

They heard the screeching in the air, they saw the shadows of large wings on the ground as they ran for cover and they had almost reached the orchid when the flying monkeys attacked them. These were not the small cuddly looking monkeys seen on the television screen but large, human size monkeys that looked like they were able to take on a whole hockey team and come out as the winners.

"Throw apples!" Will yelled as he tossed the first apple, hitting one of the monkey's wings and causing it to crash into another. The creatures that fell from the sky unfazed screamed their monkey language at the group and returned fire.

The monkeys screeched louder in anger as the trio made it deeper into the orchid but it proved to be a useless effort. The monkeys were swift and agile; shifting in different directions to miss branches of the low cut trees in a furious speed.

"Ow!" Cecil felt pain in the middle of his back where an apple had hit him by a chunky monkey with black wings. The monkey made a fist and shouted in what had to be foul language.

Lou Ellen stumbled and reached out to catch her balance but was able to knock over Will in the process. A monkey with spiked hair flew down low and ceased his opportunity, wrapping its arms around Will's waist and pulling him up in the air.

"Get off me!" Will demanded, kicking his feet wildly as he became air born.

"Oh no you don't!" Cecil jumped up in the air, grasping both of Will's running shoes. The flying monkey struggled under of the weight of the two boys and almost lost complete control once Lou Ellen climbed on Cecil's back, using him as a step ladder in order to wrap her arms around Will's legs.

The Spiked Monkey yelled down at them in what may have been a warning to let go but neither Cecil or Lou Ellen could speak monkey language. They were flocked instead by a swarm of flying monkeys.

And it happened that fast. Cecil and Lou Ellen were swatting at the primates like a swarm of bees and then, once the feathers and fur cleared, Cecil and Lou Ellen were left in the quiet aftermath of the attack in an apple orchid. Their hair was a mess. They had numerous teeth marks and claw marks on their flesh. Cecil was developing a bruise where a monkey's foot kicked him in the jaw. Their clothing was torn and in some places blood soaked through the fabric.

But they stood stun in that orchid of apples. They felt not one of the wounds. Will had been snatched right out of their hands. Cecil held Will's running shoes in each of his hands and Lou Ellen held Will's trousers in her own hands.

"This is going to be an awkward rescue." Lou Ellen stated staring down at the jeans she was holding.

"I told the boy to wear a belt," Cecil looked up at the sky at the monkeys that now looked like floating dots. "You think there is an emerald city in this crappy dream land?"


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Again, a HUGE thank you to everyone who reviewed. I appreciate the support. And thanks to those who are following the story and to those who or Favouriting it!

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><p>"This isn't going to work if you don't relax," Clovis frowned in annoyance at the young Hade's son who he had stretched out on his bed and puffed under a blanket that was promised to have more feathers than any other blanket in camp. If that wasn't grand enough, it was heated by a remote control! Clovis was not happy to have to share his sleeping equipment but as it was a serious matter and Clovis was a sharing type and that Nico had threaten a promise land of no sleep after he would kill him, Clovis reluctantly allowed Nico to lie on his bed, under the pure white blankets.<p>

"I can't relax with everyone watching me," Nico glared at Clovis' brothers and sisters as they peered down at Nico. "And this bed is too soft."

"There is nothing wrong with the bed," Clovis huffed. He was minding his own business, taking his pre-afternoon nap when Nico and Jason stormed into his cabin and began to be rude with all the shaking and the yelling. Clovis' nerves weren't meant for this much exertion. After all this mess was cleared up, he would need to schedule some down time for himself.

"Maybe we can give him something to help him relax?" Jason suggested, trying to be helpful. "We don't know how much time we may have."

"If I were to drug him then he would be useless. It's hard to control dreams when given sedatives," Clovis answered Jason but did wave his family members away from crowding the young ghost king. "Give me something to go on, Nico. Something that you find comforting. Something that would lull you to sleep."

"Like what?" Nico glanced at the rubbery looking demigod as if he had two heads.

"Sounds." Clovis said the word as it was the answer to a enigmatic question. "There are so many people who have no idea that a smallest sound, maybe something in the background of key sound, is recorded in their minds and is connected with security. If they were to hear it, their memories connected the sound to comfort and safety."

"So I have to think of a sound?" Nico turned his head over the pillow so he could see Jason. "You got a sound?"

"Rain showers." Jason smiled with a shrug. "Not a light sprinkle but a torrent rain hitting roof tops."

"Perhaps you like the sound of waves crashing?" Clovis brought Nico's attention back to him. "Maybe birds chirping? A nightingale? Wonderful birds they are. Maybe a little stream? How about water rolling over river stones, which always helps me. Oh- something from childhood? Yes I am sure that would help! We have a nice selection of stuff bears? Hmm? What do you say to this one?" Clovis held up a brown bear with extremely large brown eyes wearing pink pj's.

Jason raised his golden brows at the teddy bear, not quite sure why anyone would suggest that Nico should sleep with a teddy bear. He wasn't sure if he should snicker or take refuge by the look on Nico's face.

"Do I look like a person that snuggles with teddy bears?" Nico hissed at the notion.

"Well maybe not…" Clovis hid the bear under the bed discreetly.

"There has to be something, Nico." Jason said softly, trying to stifle a yawn. He sat in a recliner with a blanket that someone had tossed over his shoulders. He wasn't sure when it happened but there was a pillow behind his head. The cabin was very warm and the candles were affecting Jason. He wasn't sure if he would be able to keep his eyes open another moment. But he was here to support Nico. To watch over him if he falls to sleep and more importantly, try to wake him up if shows signs of being distress.

"I do remember something," Nico eyes focused on Jason but his mind went into his past. "Mum had this grandfather clock. She took it every time we moved. I could hear the slow clocking sound it made as the minutes pasted from my room. I tried to count them till it chimed but I could never make it."

"Okay. That's something." Clovis scooted on his chair closer to Nico, satisfied that he had some solid information to work with. "Close your eyes and think a back to that time. Think back to the time when you were young. You were sleeping in your child bed. All the lights were off. The blankets were tucked under you. The room was warm and the sounds all vanished except one sound. That sound of the grandfather clock. Listen to ever tick it made. Remember the sound it made when you were young. How it echoed in your head. Try to count the ticks, Nico. Count them in your head. Start with ninety-nine and go backwards to ninety-eight, ninety-seven, ninety-six…."

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><p>The Spiked hair monkey ascended higher in the sky with Will in his clasped paws. It kept looking down at the specks that were now Lou Ellen and Cecil with a hostile glare. Will wasn't afraid of heights but he was afraid the monkey was going to let go and he didn't want to even think about what would happen if it did. They were headed for a snow capped mountain peak that jutted sharply over the white fluff clouds. This was not in the story book of OZ, at least not the books Will had read. Spike was thrown off course by a sudden down draft of wind, causing him to go under a cascading shower of water. Spike and Will came out from the waterfall soaking wet. Will looked over his shoulder and noticed the water had been coming from a boulder that resembled a woman crying.<p>

The monkeys flew to the entrance of the castle within its grey walls where they landed in the midst of a monkey guarded fortress. The primates showed a lot of human like qualities from walking on two legs and even holding weaponries in their hands. Spike, who Will now referred to his captor, shoved him forward towards the wooded doors that would lead them into the castle.

Will stomach turned, he had no idea what he was getting into and all he wanted to do was wake up. He had nothing to defend himself. No weaponry and only basic combat skills. His mind wasn't trained to fight like other people either. He wasn't programmed to be a fighting warrior. He was trained, that was a camp must but that didn't make him a fighter. He was doomed. However, he did have his whistling skill and that was better than nothing. He just had to time it right. Maybe he could wrestle a bow and arrow away from one of the guards. Yeah, he started to have a bit of hope.

Then what? The mountain top was covered in snow and he had no shoes. No pants. Just his camp T-shirt, boxer shorts and socks there were already soaked from soaring through a waterfall. He was back to that grand feeling of being doomed. The wind on top of the mountain howled louder than the monkeys did and it brutally sliced through his thin fabric of clothing. He started to wonder if his sonic whistle would be heard over the magnitude of this much wind. What he did know was that if he didn't get somewhere warm; hypothermia was going to set in.

He thought he would get some relief when Spike pushed him through the wooden doors but luck was not on his side. Inside the castle was like stepping into a very large freezer. There were no windows covering the window panes. The wind rushed in through one open window and out the next like an ocean wave crashing against the castle, sweeping inside with a powerful howl.

He was roughly shoved into a throne room and upon that throne was a young woman. Her skin was so pale; Will had thought she was made out of pure white marble. Her hair was a midnight black and her eyes a stormy grey. She slowly stood up, her white drapery dress reviling that she wore no shoes as she approached him.

"Child of light," Her voice was like wind chimes, music to Will's ears. "Do you know me?" She reached out, her index finger tracing Will's jaw felt like an ice icicle.

Will slowly shook his head, wishing he had that advantage. He wanted to answer her correctly. He wanted to pull that smile from her face. She was playing with him, teasing.

"That's too bad," She whispered in his ear sending a current of chills through his body. "I know you. I know all about you, Will Solace. I know who your father is and I know that your body lays asleep and your soul…" She touched his chest. "Well, it remains here with me." She moved away from him. Her steps soft and soundless even on the crumbling floor as she returned to her stone throne to once more look like a statue. "I am the Queen of this Mountain. I am the Queen of Cold Mountain Winds. I am the wife of Boreas but once," Her grey eyes looked through an opened window. "Once I was Oreithyia. Once I was a princess of Athens. Once I was a human just like you. I felt the sun against my skin. I felt…happy."

Will was lost in what to do in this situation. There really should be something written in the camp handbook on how to react to crazed gods and goddess. "Uh, your majesty…"

Oreithyia held her hand in the air to silence him. The wind howled against the stone castle, threatening to slash through the open windows once more. "Your father gave you compassion to save others. He has given you the gift to heal them with but a touch of your hand."

Will nodded his head, not sure what else to do.

"Where was your father's compassion when I was taken against my will?" Oreithyia grey eyes sent a new wave of chills over Will's freezing body.

"I-I," Will teeth began to chatter. He wasn't sure how long his body was going to maintain heat.

"Where was your father's compassion when I was forced into marrying the man that forced himself upon me?! Where was your father's compassion then?" Oreithyia now stood at her throne, the wind screaming like a banshee outside the castle walls. The trees were splinting their limbs from being tormented from the pressure of the wind wimping through the branches.

"I don't know…I wasn't born then…" Will fumbled. Why did he have to take the blame for his father's mistake especially in a time he didn't even exist in? Should his father even be blamed for her situation? His mind backtracked to his Greek Studies and he remembered Oreithyia but did not remember Apollo as being at fault or even mentioned in the stories. "If I was…I would think I would have tried to help you."

Oreithyia glared at him before hissing at her guards to take him away. "Place him in the castle's prison until I can find a use for him."

"Lock me up? For what?" Will eyes darted from the monkey guards at his side. "I hadn't done anything!"

"Of yet!" Oreithyia yelled and when she did a howl of wind entered the room, blowing her hair behind her in a tangled dance. "The one thing I have learned in my eternity is to punish the gods is to punish their offspring."

"You speak of lack of compassion!" Will hollered over his shoulder. "Where is your compassion? I had no part of that time in your life!" Spike pushed him through a series of doors. They went left, right and left again. They went down a series of stairs and the further they went down, the damper the palace became.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: So...that commitment issue that I stated in the first chapter - still an issue. So sorry. I guess that procrastinator within me is still the beast that reigns over me. So please expect delays as I become a sloth in the next few days. AND this chapter is terribly short, I'm ashamed but felt I should post something.

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><p>Cecil and Lou Ellen both had stood at the base of the mountain, secretly hoping someone would throw down a ladder. They had followed the Flying Monkeys till their road ran out and they found themselves staring up at a jagged mountain.<p>

"You know we are going to have to climb that mountain wall," Cecil looked over at Lou Ellen.

"Yeah. I know," Lou Ellen sighed and rubbed her hands together. "It looks just like the climbing wall at camp."

"It's higher," Cecil pointed upward.

"There isn't any lava," Lou Ellen pointed out.

"There isn't any safety net either," Cecil reminded her.

"There won't be Aries Cabin trying to knock us down," Lou Ellen told him.

"Instead of angry Aries brats, we got angry monkeys with wings that are probably ready to fling monkey poo at us." Cecil took a deep breath and went towards the wall of the mountain to find a place for a good spot to hoist him upward. "Well here goes nothing…"

And they had climbed the top of the mountain as they had been trained to do in camp. Their feet slipped, the tips of their fingers were raw and they had scratches all over their arms but they made it and though there was no Emerald City, there was a castle.

After the climb, the duo found them hunkered down near a group of bared shrub branches that have been long forgotten by the game keeper, if there was still such a person in the establishment. A castle that may have been a breath taking sight at one time but now, it lay in crumbling stones. Not all the battle towers were standing and those that still did had large gaps in the side of its wall as if it was blasted with a canon. Large, thick vines invaded the castle wall, pushing its way through broken brick or wood.

Outside the court yard, the place was guarded by the flying monkeys. They held shields and swords and there was a lot of screaming at each other. Two monkeys were banging their shields against each other. Apparently, they don't like being told what to do by other monkeys.

"How are we going to get past them?" Lou Ellen whispered in Cecil's ear. She huddled closer to him, trying to keep some warmth. The air up in the mountain was bitter cold and it seemed to seep into their very core.

He didn't answer her right away, his eyes scanned over everything he could possibly see. His mind was jumping at ideas, running courses through his head, thinking about the whole action and reaction theories in his mind.

"See that device over there?" Cecil whispered to her after a few minutes. "It was used to lower draw bridges. There isn't a bridge there anymore – probably eroded away with most of the frame work."

"And that is going to get us into the castle?" Lou Ellen raised her brows.

"No. I was just pointing out that there was a bridge because there was a moat, most likely. It's all dried up and if the castle is crumbling, there may be a way inside if we searched the ditch area." Cecil pointed out to the sharp over embankment that jutted over the side of the castle's ground. "The monkeys won't be able to see us because of that ground hanging over us."

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><p>"Guys, come over here and look at this." Sunday waved her hand, beckoning her brothers and sisters to come closer towards the bed of their sleeping friend, Cecil.<p>

Piper edged closer to with the group circled that circles Apollo's daughter, hoping that she had found a solution but was stunned instead to see signs of bruising that seem to appear almost magically.

"There is more," Sunday pulled his hospital shirt down over his shoulder to reveal an animal bite. "They all have bruising and scratches that were not present before. And…" Sunday pulled a pulse chart towards the group. "Their heart rate spiked near the same time the bruising appeared."

"Whatever they are experiencing in their dream is having effect of to their bodies in the reality realm," Piper whispered but she was only saying what the other Apollo children already had guessed.

"Their body core temperature is dropping…."Sunday pointed to another chart.

"They are somewhere cold," Brill, one of her half-brothers suggested. "But how can we help? Their…realism has changed roles. What is a dream is a reality and what is real is an illusion. I'm not saying we shouldn't try but my gut is saying that it won't make a difference."

"We don't think like that," Sunday voice pushed his words aside before it manifested into a defeat for the group. "We do what we can and that will be better than nothing. Clean the wounds and keep their body temperatures warm. Keep monitoring. Anything changes, I want to know."

"I'll get some warm blankets," Aura gave a curt nod before turning to deliver her promise goods.

"We can get some hot water from the hot springs," Eden suggested. "Keep it against their pulse points?"

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><p>Will was freezing. Though moving downwards in the castle did help as a shield from being tormented by the bitter cold wind, it was still cold inside the ruined castle. His prison was actually a large dungeon cell, very much like the ones he had in seen in the movies. Because it was so large it didn't maintain any heat but there was straw.<p>

Will looked over at the pile of hay with his nose scrunched up. In his mind he was checking off list of every little parasite that could be crawling in that dried grass. It wasn't as this place would win any rewards for being tidy. There was a window that was made high on the wall but he had nothing that would allow him a boast to pull himself up to the window.

He wasn't held inside the room with bars but a door that was locked from the outside. He tried to find a way to unscrew the door by the hinges but that too was on the other side. He flopped down on top of a pile of hay in defeat. A rat shot out from under the hay stack, causing Will to jump back to his feet in surprise.


End file.
